Railroad tie



. June 24 H. L. THOMAS RAILROAD TIE Filed Jan. 31 1924 2 sheetsrshee t l attorney I June 24 1924.

H. L. THOMAS RAILROAD TIE 2 SheeiS-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 51 1924 avwmm H L T 0 MM 61m: new

Patented dune 2d, 192%.

' i a ai EZ K AH 'IQ AS, M E RYLAND- RAILROAD TIE.

Application filed January 31, 1924.

and it has for its primary object a tie of this character which will possess to a high degree the characteristics of durability, s1mplicity, and rigidity so far as withstanding breaking-down strains or stresses are concerned, while at the same time it will possess suflicient resilienceto produce when installed a sufficiently yielding road bed to assist materially in the riding qualities of the rolling stock.

The invention also has for its objectan improved tie of this character embodying arched or truss-like reinforcing plates, so constructed and arranged and embedded in the concrete body portion of the tie, that a very effective and rigid structure will be produced, novel and improved means being employed in connection with the main arched reinforcing members for the purpose of strengthening the tie, particularly in the rail engaging lugs thereof, to preclude the possibility of fracture where the strain imparted by the rail upon it in actual use is greatest.

iVith these and other objects in View, as will more fully appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in certain constructions, arrangements, and combinations of the parts that I shall hereinafter fully describe and claim.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a tie constructed in accordance with this present invention.

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the reinforcing bars and plates employed.

Figs. 4 and 5 are transverse sectional views on the line 44 and 55, respectively, of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 6 is a detail perspective View of one form of yoke that may be employed to hold the rail engaging block in place.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral 1 designates the concrete body portion of my Serial No. 689,772.

improved tie, the same being molded or otherwise formed and of any desired size, shape, or contour, except as hereinafter noted. The body portion 1 of the tie is formed in its upper face near its ends with rail receiving recesses 2, these being undercut at one side, as indicated at 3 to produce lugs 1 designed to overhang and engage the base and web portions of the rails at the outer sides thereof, as clearly illustrated" in the drawing.

Engageable with the other sides of the rails are concrete or metal blocks- 5 designed to be received in the recesses. 52 and beveled at one side, as indicated at 6, to fit underneath the inner undercut portions of the recesses asshown. The blocks 5 engage the base and web portions of the rails" on the inner sides of the latter and are held' in place, preferably by means of yokes 7, the cross bars 8 of which are mounted in transverse grooves 9 formed in the upper faces of the blocks 5, the said yokes being provided with downwardly extending side arms 10 which extend along the opposite sides of the body portion 1 and are formed with apertured ears 11 designed to receive a transversely extending rod or bolt 12 secured inplace by means of nuts 13.

Preferably the fastening rods or bolts 12 are mounted in metalliosleeves. 14 that are embedded in the concrete body 1, thereby-obviating the necessity of coring a hole for the bolt or rod 1-2 and allowing the bolt or rod to bear against the sleeve instead of the concrete, so as to preclude the possibility of chipping the latter.

The body portion 1 of my im roved tie is reinforced by means of two oraminous bars or members 15, the holes extending through said reinforcing bars being of any desired-number, size, design and arrangement, and it is to be particularly noted that these reinforcing bars are bowed and lie horizontally and extend longitudinally within the body portion of the tie so as to form an elongated or attenuated elliptical structure. The converging ends of the bars or members 1-5 contact with each other, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1 and are formed at their end edges with lugs 16 arranged in staggered relation to each other and interlocked so as to securel hold the two bars together.

As is well known, the side thrust upon the rails in a structure of this kind is most likely to produce a fracture in and through the overhanging rail engaging lugs 4:, and to prevent this, I provide preferably curved reinforcing plates 17 of metal, said plates being preferably perforated and extending from the uppermost arched bar to and into the lugs at, following somewhat the contour of the adjoining base flange of the rail.

In order to securely hold the plates 17 in place resting upon the uppermost arched bar 15, said plates 17 are each provided with a base flange 18 resting directly upon the upper-most bar 15, said flange 18 being formed at its ends with downwardly and inwardly turned lugs 19 that are clinched around and upon the adjoining side edges of said uppermost bar 15. Preferably the perforations of the base flanges 18 of the reinforcing plate 17 register with some of the holes or perforations of the uppermost arched reinforcing bar 15, whereby the concrete will stay securely in the registering openings thereby assisting in producing a rigid structure.

As best illustrated in Fig. 2, the base or lower face of the concrete body portion 1 is formed with an elliptical recess 20 which is deepest at the middle of the concrete body portion, both longitudinally and transversely considered, and which tapers towards the ends and sides and becomes more shallow as it approaches the end and side walls of the concrete body. This recess serves to securely hold the tie in place in the ballast.

From the foregoing description in connection with the accompanying drawing, it will be seen that I have provided a very durable and efiective concrete tie which will be rigid in construction and well capable of withstanding the hard use to which a device of this kind is put.

While the accompanying drawing illustrates what I believe to be the preferred embodiment of my invention it is to be understood that my invention is not limited thereto, and that various changes may be made in the construction, arrangements, and proportions of the parts without departing from the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed, is: 1. In a railroad tie, a concrete body portion, foraminous reinforcing bars embedded therein, said bars being reversely bowed and arranged one above the other with their ends contacting, said bars at their ends being formed with interlocking lugs connecting the bars together.

2. In a railroad tie, a concrete body portion, upper and lower horizontally disposed and longitudinally extending bars mounted therein, said bars being reversely bowed with the upper bar having its ends extending downwardly and with the lower bar having its ends extending upwardly, the ends of said bars being connected together, and reinforcing plates provided with base flanges secured to said bars and extending upwardly therefrom as and for the purpose set forth.

In a railroad tie, a concrete body portion formed with rail engaging lugs, reinforcing bars embedded therein and disposed horizontally and extending longitudinally of said body portion, and reinforcing plates extending upwardly from one of said bars, said plates being provided with flanges resting on one of said bars, said flanges being formed at their ends with downwardly and inwardly turned lugs engaging the side edges of said bar to securely hold the plates and bar together,

4;. In a railroad tie, a concrete body portion, upper and lower horizontally disposed and longitudinally extending perforated reinforcing bars embedded therein, said bars being reversely bowed, and reinforcing plates extending upward from the uppermost bar near the ends thereof, said plates being provided with base flanges resting upon said bar, the flanges being formed at their ends with lugs extending downward and inward around the side edges of said bar, and said flanges being formed with apertures registering with apertures in the bar.

5. In a railroad tie, a concrete body, and a pair of reversely bowed reinforcing bars embedded therein with their ends in contacting relation, the ends of the bars being formed with hook-shaped lugs having interfitting engagement.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

HEZEKIAI-I L. THOMAS. 

